A Not-So-Fun Event

Pre-Surgery

Jett got his tonsils and adenoids removed last Thursday. They also put tubes in his ears while they were at it. It was the first time we have ever had to put one of the kids under anesthesia and it was a little nerve wracking. But since we had two really good reasons, we decided to go for it. Jett has spent half of his life sick, so the removal of his tonsils were a very good option, especially since they were huge. Apparently, however, his adenoids were "enormous" to quote the doctor. The second reason was because of his speech delay. He's been in Early Intervention the past couple of months and has not made much improvement, so we have high hopes that this operation will help him form the sounds that he struggled with before.

We had to be at the surgical center in the Riverwoods at 7:45 am. Jett was in a good mood, unaware of the certain fate that awaited him. I tried to talk to him about it, but I'm sure it didn't sink in. We checked in and he and I were given matching wrist bands, which he was stoked about. Dave was meeting us there since he had to take Cruise to school first. They called us back where they gave Jett a really soft blanket and a t-shirt to wear during the surgery. While we waited, Dave was able to give Jett a blessing, which calmed my nerves a lot.

The surgeon/doctor, Dr. Heidi Heras, came in and talked about the procedure and asked if we had any questions, and then we spoke with the anesthesiologist about what he would be doing. Then they came in with a little wagon and we said goodbye. Jett seemed a little confused about why he was leaving us with a team of people in scrubs, and I felt really bad. I thought I was going to be able to be there when they put him out, so I felt even worse for the poor kid. Luckily they put the IV into his hand after they gave him the gas, so at least that spared him the pain of it.

The nurse took us to the room and there Dave and I waited. We realized that we didn't have a few things like popsicles and ramen for the boy, and of course the "I'm sorry we put you through this, please accept our offering of this Superhero" toy. So Dave left to get the items. He wasn't gone 10 minutes when I heard a familiar cry. Jett was already out of surgery after only a half hour. But I was so glad that everything went well. I wanted to run to him, but I wasn't allowed in the back, so I had to stand there and wait while I heard the poor kiddo cry as he came out of the anesthesia.

They finally brought him in and he was not happy. He was super confused and I'm sure felt awful. Dave came back soon after and we spent the next two hours trying to calm Jett down and get him to nap. Probably the biggest deterrent of this effort was the annoying IV in his hand. But he had to keep it in until he was released. He walked around the center trying to find someone to remove it, and was very upset that no one would.

Finally he fell asleep and my dad brought us some lunch from In-N-Out. Jett woke to find Grandpa sitting by the bed and was very happy to see him. After he left, we watched some Lion King and played with his new Captain America action figure. He then wanted to walk around the halls again, so we put on his shoes and he got to explore. He refused to return to his room, so we just walked around and played in the halls. I had to leave to pick Cruise up from school and not long after, Jett was finally released around 2:00pm.

He wanted a picture of his shoes.

When he got home, he acted like he was fine and went outside and played, but day 2-4, he refused to eat anything and hardly drank. By evening of day 4, he finally started eating and chose noodles, scrambled eggs and brownies as his favorite things to eat and apple juice to drink. He has his ups and downs and as long as he lets us give him his medicine, he does pretty well. Mostly though he just wants to be held...all day.

My little Gnomes